©AFP/M.Navales. Farmers walk their carabaos past military armoured personnel carriers as they evacuate Mamasapano town, Maguindanao province, in southern Mindanao

Manila - In 2014, ten of the 16 poorest provinces in the Philippines were in Mindanao. Poor access to basic services and limited economic opportunities are results of disruptions and uncertainties caused by conflict and natural disasters in the region.

More than half of the population in Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) live in poverty, while 46 percent of the households in five of the provinces in the region are food insecure. This is largely attributed to poverty and low agricultural productivity. When families are displaced by armed conflict, communities become resource-poor, and livelihood opportunities and food sources become very limited.

Ironically, most combatants from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) belong to farming and fishing households and are predominantly farmers and fisher folks. Those wanting to return to a life of peace cannot do so owing to lack of access to land and the capital asset to regain their livelihoods.

Despite its rich natural resources, Mindanao is not faring well in terms of harnessing its agricultural potential. While more than 60 percent of the ARMM’s economic outputs are comprised of agriculture, fisheries and forestry products, these are of low value. There are virtually limited market opportunities for farmers; and agricultural labour productivity is significantly lower than the other provinces in the country. When roads are blocked and some areas become off-limits because of armed conflict, it becomes increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible to bring the produce to the markets to allow farmers to earn sufficient income and afford the purchase of inputs to sustain farming.

“A weak agriculture sector holds severe implications for sustainable development and peace,” FAO Representative for the Philippines, José Luis Fernández said. “Successful reintegration of former MILF combatants and displaced households will only happen if they have the means to return to farming or fishing.”

“By assisting them in regaining their productive assets and helping them make informed decisions about their livelihoods, they will have a better chance at securing more stable sources of income and have access to more nutritious  food sources,” Fernández added.

Promoting agricultural development as a means for peace

Food secure households, lower malnutrition rates and a lower poverty incidence in Mindanao is a vision that is shared by FAO, together with the Bangsamoro Development Agency and the Government of the Philippines.

Since 2005, FAO has been actively engaged in the rehabilitation of agriculture- and fisheries-based livelihoods in conflict-affected and disaster-affected areas in Mindanao, including the ARMM, Central Mindanao, Davao Oriental and Zamboanga City. For almost a decade, FAO has been providing agricultural and fisheries inputs, training farmers and fishers on improved technologies, practices and livelihood options, and strengthening their resilience to disasters. Through the UN Peacebuilding Fund, FAO along with other UN agencies and national counterparts is preparing to assist families who were affected by the siege in Zamboanga City in September 2013. FAO support will specifically address fisher families to increase their incomes by introducing a more profitable and sustainable approach to fishing and seaweed farming.

Following the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, FAO has become active in the formulation of the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP) along with other development partners.

One of the flagship programmes of BDP is the Bangsamoro Sustainable Agriculture Programme. This programme aims to increase farm productivity, income and food security, with greater focus to vulnerable groups. For the transition period, FAO intends to support smallholder farmers and fishers by enhancing their capacities to jumpstart the restoration and rehabilitation of their livelihoods, engage in microenterprises especially for women, have access to markets and sustain their gains by integrating climate-resilient agriculture principles in their production and processing.

“The focus of FAO’s work is to restore livelihoods to facilitate the return to normalcy of farming and fishing households that have been affected by the conflict in Mindanao,” Fernández explained.  “Replacing lost productive assets is not enough. We need to transition from subsistence farming to more sustainable livelihoods. This will be achieved by providing the farmers with an understanding of how the market works, facilitating their access to improved production systems and making their farms climate-resilient.”

In facilitating these interventions, FAO will be focusing on smallholder farmers and marginal fishers, including decommissioned MILF combatants and women, as they constitute the largest segments of the Bangsamoro workforce.

FAO’s projects in Mindanao have been funded through the support of the UN Peacebuilding Fund, UN Central Emergency Response Fund, the European Commission for Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) and the Governments of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Spain.